Youngest
by Triscribe
Summary: When Allura and Pidge are trapped by a cave-in, everyone tries to keep from panicking - which is definitely one of those 'easier said than done' things...
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: And here's the next one! This makes three out of six, along with my Change in Profession story and the AU stuff I've begun posting on tumblr (which I highly recommend you guys go look at, by the way, since there's more along the lines of the art now being used as a cover for this and the other stories). I have a query for you guys, though: I've only seen one 'next generation' scenario for Voltron so far, and would like to know if any of you dear readers would be interested in a story I'm thinking up that presents the children of the paladins._

 _But, thoughts on that can wait until you read this chapter. Enjoy!_

 _-Triscribe_

Chapter 1

"SCATTER!"

Shiro's shout came just as a rocket launcher arched down towards their group, causing Allura and the paladins to break away in all directions. Both Pidge and the princess wound up heading for the same shallow cave in the nearby cliffside, with the vague idea of regrouping in order to plan a counter attack. Lance and Hunk retreated back down the path they'd been following, while Shiro and Keith darted towards the treeline opposite the cliffs.

"So much for this planet being peaceful," Pidge muttered as she reached the cave, bayard humming to life in her hand. Allura arrived a split second after her, brushing a stray hair back into alignment.

"Can you see where they're positioned?" The princess asked.

"No, not y- wait. There!" Pidge pointed towards a small pile of boulders further ahead of them on the path, behind which she'd just spotted movement. Unfortunately, gesturing with her bright green bayard proved to be a bit of a mistake, as the next rocket the mystery attackers fired came straight towards them.

"Back!" Allura shouted, grasping Pidge's arm and hauling the smaller girl after her into the cave. The rocket struck the ground just a couple yards away from the cliff, though the curved nature of the cave walls kept out the flames and shrapnel.

 _*Pidge, Allura, don't move until we draw their fire.*_ Shiro ordered over the comm system. _*Keith, get around these guys, try to ambush them from behind. Hunk, move up through the trees to join my position, and Lance, time to try out those sniper skills of yours.*_ Affirmative noises came from the rest of the boys, while Pidge grumbled to herself about picking better places of cover in future.

Then a third rocket was launched.

It hit the cliffside just above the little cave.

And an avalanche buried Pidge and Allura inside.

-Y-

As soon as they'd taken down their attackers and destroyed the rocket launcher, Shiro ordered the others to start digging. None of them had been able to get a response from either of their female members on the comm frequency, which was worrying the man more than he wanted to let on.

It was as they were just beginning to pull away the rocks, though, that a few weak coughs came through.

"Pidge? Is that you? Hold up, guys," Shiro gestured for the others to stop so they could listen to the comm line more intently. "Pidge?"

 _*...present,*_ the girl groaned back. _*Ow...*_

"What's your status? Can you see Allura?"

 _*Buried... C-can't move much... Or s-see... But, I've got, a hand, on her shoulder.*_

"Okay. Okay, that's fine. Just stay put, we're coming to get you."

"Just hang in there, half-pint." Keith said as well.

 _*D-don't, call me that.*_

"Lightweight?"

 _*No, Keith.*_

"What about, Tiny Terror?"

 _*NO.*_

"Well, if you don't like those, guess I have to stick with Pip-Pidge." Everyone chuckled at the green paladin's growl, as Shiro sent Keith a thumbs up for distracting their youngest member from her predicament.

Distractions would only go so far, though, as they all fell silent again in order to continue digging.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

When Allura awoke with a groan, she couldn't tell at first that her eyes were actually open or not. Then the feeling of fingers on her shoulder reminded the Altean of just what had happened, and who she'd been with at the time.

"Pidge?"

"H-hey, Allura."

"Are you alright?"

"'Mm fine, b-but we're, both s-stuck." Frowning, Allura attempted to shift herself, only to strain against the weight of the rocks atop her and reluctantly still again.

"So it seems. Have you been able to contact the others?"

"Yeah, th-the comms are w-working f-fine." Something in the paladin's voice finally registered in Allura's mind, causing her to peer through the pitch black of the cave to where the girl was.

"...Are you quite certain you're alright?"

"...No."

Worried, Allura forced her right arm out from beneath the rubble, reaching blindly until she could grasp Pidge's arm. "What's wrong?"

"...Th-this isn't the, the f-first time I've been t-tr-trapped in a c-cave..."

" _Just hold onto me, Katie."_

" _Matt, I- I'm scared."_

" _That's okay, it's okay. We won't be stuck here for long. Mom and Dad and the tour guide know we're down here, they'll get us out, or go get help." When Katie whimpered, her brother's arms tightened around her, providing the reassurance that his words couldn't._

"W-we were th-there f-for th-th-three hours b-before a rescue t-team came," Pidge whispered, and she sounded so young in that moment that Allura desperately wished she wasn't pinned, so as to be able to hug the human girl close in the same way her brother has once done. Instead, she squeezed reassuringly on Pidge's arm, conveying as much warmth as she could through the small gesture.

"We won't be here that long, Pidge, I promise you. We can even hear the others digging right now, can't we?" And sure enough, echoing around the small pocket of air that their heads were in was the sound of distant, shifting earth and the occasional shouted command. "It won't be long at all now."

There was a small hiccuping noise in the darkness.

Gritting her teeth, Allura used as much of her strength as she was able to push herself a few inches off the ground, turning partway onto her side in order to stretch both arms outward. Hands grasping onto Pidge, she then pulled the small paladin a tad closer, ignoring the pained gasp as rocks readjusted on top of already abused armor.

With Pidge finally close enough to embrace, Allura went still again, urging Shiro and the others to hurry in her mind.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Pidge didn't know it, but her comm line had still been open during her conversation with Allura, and as such the other paladins all got to hear with growing horror about their youngest member's previous experience with cave-ins. The sound of her quiet sob was also enough to drive them to dig even faster.

Hunk was the first to pull aside a boulder and uncover Allura's feet, which he gave a quick nudge to in order to let her know he was there. Both boots twitched in return, and then Keith was helping him pull more rocks and soil away from the spot. By the time they'd dug far enough to reveal the princess' knees, Pidge's feet were also visible, and all four paladins were working together in the same area.

Eventually, they'd cleared enough of the surrounding rubble for Allura to push herself free, one arm still wrapped around Pidge's shoulders. Both took great, deep breaths of fresh air, before thanking their teammates.

"I think we're all going to have aversions to caves for a while after this," the princess said wryly, sending a quick glance in Pidge's direction.

"I'd say it's _rocket launchers_ we should have an aversion to!" Lance tried to joke, getting mild grins from the others. Pidge even let loose a small chuckle, pushing herself to her feet - and promptly falling flat again. Or, she would have, if Keith didn't jump forward at the last second to catch her.

"Okay, no one who just spent twenty minutes underneath a pile of boulders is going to walk on their own," Shiro announced. With Lance and Keith supporting Pidge, he offered his own hand to Allura to lean on. "Let's head back to the Castle - we can worry about intelligence gathering later."

-Y-

After a few hours spent in the healing pods, both Allura and Pidge were fully recovered - in the physical sense, anyway. As far as mentally recovered went... The fact that the green paladin immediately went and hid in her lion's hangar let everyone know that she wasn't handling the recent misadventure all that well.

Shiro was about to go check on her only to be stopped by Allura's hand on his shoulder.

When the princess first entered the green lion's hangar, she couldn't help but smile a tad at the ordered chaos of Pidge's assorted projects and workstations. The paladin herself, however, was seated up on Green's head, staring at something on her open laptop screen. She didn't appear to have noticed Allura's arrival, though her lion's quiet rumble was enough of an alert.

"Oh, hey, Princess."

"Hello, Pidge. Do you mind if I join you?"

"Uh, no. Come on up." Green lowered a bit to give Allura an easier climb, and she swiftly clambered up to take a seat beside the other girl. Pidge merely continued to stare at her screen, which was open to a saved image file: one with four dirt-stained, brown-haired humans embracing in the middle of a rather large crowd.

"That's the picture that went into the newspaper, when Matt and I were rescued from the cave," Pidge murmured, wiping surreptitiously at her eyes. "None of us even noticed the reporter - we were too busy, being relieved that the rescue team managed to pull us out."

Without a word, Allura scooted over to tuck the smaller girl against her side, giving her a one-armed hug at the same time.

"I just- I miss them so _much-"_

"We'll find them, Pidge. And then we'll pull off just as successful a rescue mission as those humans who got you out of that cave." The two of them stayed there a while, Allura letting Pidge burrow into her as stress and fear were released through tears. Shiro poked his head in at one point, saw them, and quickly retreated again.

When the girls did eventually emerge from Green's hangar, the rest of the team were present and waiting to catch the both of them in a big group hug, their youngest laughing as she was squashed in the very center of it.


End file.
